Flawed Research?

[Elton]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/C..._Licence_System

 

"You have a car licence and a dog licence; why not a cannabis licence?" he said.

 

Err, do you?

[Ken L]

Just about every paragraph in that report is garbage.

 

legalised under licence to reduce narcotics-related crime and help close the gateway to harder substances.

Ah, yes, that's worked so well in Amsterdam that we should go for it too.

 

it should be sold in the same way as cigarettes and alcohol.

In large quantities by a dodgy geezer who imports it untaxed from Europe ?

 

Professor Pertwee proposed the idea of a licence to stop people who are at risk of psychosis or who suffer from a serious mental illness legally buying the drug.

Obviously, these folks are getting it now when it's illegal so legalising it for "Licence holders" and flooding the market is going to make it harder to get hold of. Right ?

How does he propose to test for licences ? Unless he has a test for psychosi predisposion, he would have to let people have a licence on request and if smoking sends them bugo (costing the state hundred of thousands of pounds in lost productivity, NHS costs and disability benefits per case) he would take it away.

 

He also wants more debate on the recreational use of cannabis. He said he was in favour of legalisation in principle, if the right framework could be found.

It's been had and that's why the drug has been reclassifief twice in the last five years. Perhaps what he really wants is a different outcome.

 

I could go on but it starts getting repetative.

This man is a doctor and he wants to legalise something that is known to induce psychosis...... Says it all really.

[Chris Goddard]

Just about every paragraph in that report is garbage.

 

 

Ah, yes, that's worked so well in Amsterdam that we should go for it too.

 

 

In large quantities by a dodgy geezer who imports it untaxed from Europe ?

 

 

Obviously, these folks are getting it now when it's illegal so legalising it for "Licence holders" and flooding the market is going to make it harder to get hold of. Right ?

How does he propose to test for licences ? Unless he has a test for psychosi predisposion, he would have to let people have a licence on request and if smoking sends them bugo (costing the state hundred of thousands of pounds in lost productivity, NHS costs and disability benefits per case) he would take it away.

 

 

It's been had and that's why the drug has been reclassifief twice in the last five years. Perhaps what he really wants is a different outcome.

 

I could go on but it starts getting repetative.

This man is a doctor and he wants to legalise something that is known to induce psychosis...... Says it all really.

 

I'm with Ken on this one! (I didn't even need to read the post itself, such an excellent review of the best bits!! Well written Ken!!

 

Even the Dutch thing has gone Tits-up as well so as you do say if it was so good???

[Steve Walker]

I think the argument about the failings of the Dutch experiment is that prohibition hasn't been much of a success either.

[Elton]

I just want to know when I'm going to get a tug for having an unlicensed Dalmatian!

[Sportsman]

"This man is a doctor and he wants to legalise something that is known to induce psychosis...... Says it all really."

 

You mean as opposed to legal drugs such as Alcohol and Tobacco which are only known to cause:

 

Cancer of the lung, mouth, throat and oesophagus.

Chronic bronchitis, asthma and emphysema

Liver cancer, pancreatic cancer and bladder cancer

Cirrhosis of the liver

Osteoporosis

Coronary Artery disease

Circulatory problems

High blood pressure

Stroke

Liver failure

Kidney failure

Pancreatitis

and many others and between them are probably responsible for 100,000+ deaths per year in the UK

 

This does not include all of the addiction, deaths and suffering from prescribed medications

 

All of the above costing the NHS millions if not billions every year

 

BTW I no longer use any of them (smug smiley )

Edited September 15, 2010 by Sportsman

[snakey1]

The thing with Amsterdam is poessession of cannabis isn't actually legal there, as for causing psychosis yes it can cause this in some people but then so can alcohol.

An interesting statistic (yes I know then theres lies damn lies and statistics but there you go)

In the Netherlands 9.7% of young adults (aged 15-24) consume soft drugs once a month, In the UK that figure is 15.8%

So which countries policy is working better ? (I believe the Netherlands also has a lower drug related death rate than the UK as well).

Check the crime statistics for the Netherlands, you'll find generally they are considerably lower than the UKs so I guess as the UKs policies on drugs and crime are so successful perhaps the dutch should look to us as the way forward

Edited September 15, 2010 by snakey1

[ColinW]

I have never taken cannabis, not for any moral reason just because I don't smoke, but I have been in the company of other people using it many times. I have also been unfortunate enough to be the designated driver a few times when others are drinking. Observing the effects of both drugs, it is OBVIOUS which is worse, and it's not the illegal one! It is quite wrong to argue that it should be illegal just because abuse leads to problems. Abuse (as opposed to use) of anything can lead to problems, try taking a load of Ibuprofen every day and see what happens to you.

I have always been convinced that the reason pot is illegal is because it would be so hard to tax. Once possession became legal there would be no way to keep track of what was commercially grown and what was growing in people's greenhouses. You can of course brew your own alcohol, but it costs almost as much for ingredients as the supermarkets sell it for. that's a different thing altogether than growing hundreds of pound's worth of pot in a three quid gro-bag.

[watatoad]

I think we should legalize all drugs.

 

1: We have shown that we cant control the use of them nor the distribution of them.

 

2: We are totally incapable of even keeping them out of prisons.

 

3: Legalize they would make our streets safer.

 

4: The Country needs the money.

 

5: Organizing it might take the Governments minds off extremist anti-fishing groups.

 

6: It would be something else for the Government to tax and that seems to make the Government and their minions happy.

 

7: Going by previous Government run things there would be shortages and it would be totally mismanaged.

[Renrag39]

I'm inclined to agree with both ColinW and Rod. Also having taken cannabis when a teenager, I know from experience that it can often be the gateway drug to harder and more damaging substances. I never tried anything else myself and stopped many years ago.

IMO I believe that alcohol is far more damaging physically and about as disruptive mentally.

 

If all drugs were legalised I can see Darwins Law taking effect rapidly and so clearing our already weakening gene pool of the (barely) human detritus that litters it, leaving us with 'das Ubermensch'. A voluntary genetic cleansing of the human species by self inflicted mortality.

 

And for the record, if I KNEW that I would get no treatment for the diseases listed in Sportmans post, not to mention the other side effects of the currently controlled and licenced substances, by 'SELF INFLICTED ABUSE' then I would quit smoking and drinking alcohol in a heartbeat.

 

Renrag

Edited September 23, 2010 by Renrag39